Metaphor Essay

FINAL DRAFT

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
December 9, 2009

Metaphors:
Finding Metaphors in To Kill a Mockingbird and my Life

(TS) Metaphors can simply be a tool to elegantly compare thoughts, or they can distinguish a person’s true nature or spirit. (CM) The expressions in a metaphor such as “little” or “powerful” can merely describe physical traits of someone. (CM) However, metaphors can translate deeper meaning when they relate to an individual’s soul. (CS) In both To Kill a Mockingbird and my life, there are metaphors that have deep, emotional connections.

(TS) The metaphor “red little rooster” which describes Mr. Ewell, a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, is a mocking expression of Mr. Ewell’s physical traits and personality. (SD) “…A little bantam cock of a man rose and strutted to the stand…We [Scout and Jem] saw that his face was as red as his neck” (Lee, 227) which depicts two odd characteristics of Mr. Ewell. (CM) One of these odd characteristics clearly explains why the “red” is part of Lee’s metaphor. (CM) The “little” part of the metaphor is also illustrated in the passage because Scout clarifies his lack of height. (SD) Unlike the other two words in the metaphor, rooster represents Mr. Ewell’s personality. (CM) Some people consider roosters to be an annoying animal since they crow early in the morning, interrupting dreams and sleep. (CM) Mr. Ewell has similar aspects to a rooster because he likes to be annoying while everyone else prefers working productively, and he also crows his opinion loudly creating pandemonium in the courtroom (compound complex sentence). (CS) Mr. Ewell is an unusual red faced man with an exasperating personality, illustrating perfectly the metaphor “red little rooster”.

(TS) Like Mr. Ewell I have a metaphor that depicts me: a cluttered computer. (SD) When a computer is brand new, its memory space is empty except for a few major programs, and before I was cluttered, I had a single dedication and fast computing power towards school (compound complex sentence). (CM) As a fourth grader, I didn’t have many friends, many hobbies, or many places to be, so I had all the attention in the world to devote to being a straight ‘A’ scholar. (CM) Because of all this time being spent on subjects related to school, I developed a quick mind for solving problems like a computer has fast computing power. (SD) Later though, I became more social which led to more friends and less time being spent on school work, thus, earning the “cluttered” part of the computer metaphor. (CM) Gaining new friends takes up a lot of time or a lot of storage space in a computer because I allocate myself to hanging out and talking to them as well as making sure I get good grades in school. (CM) Then when I started to study guitar, I had to equate that into the balance of my life that already had so much on either side of it. (CS) Cluttered computers must divide their computing power, and my life requires a lot computing power as well, but when I overload with information, I won’t crash.

(TS) Metaphors are capable of being powerful utensils for depicting people or objects. (CM) However, they can be objective descriptions like in To Kill a Mockingbird where they mostly describe a person’s physical attributes. (CM) In other cases, they can contain an unfathomable meaning that is used to explain the true nature of a person’s inner self. (CS) Metaphors can be formed anywhere because anywhere in life there are physical characteristics or spiritual emotions that can be put into an expression.